All in all, it’s not a bad nose, though it will obviously appeal most to bourbon fans who like a big oak profile. Deeply caramelized toffee lends some richness. The woodiness has a bit of musty old funk to it, suggesting lumberyard or forest, along with traces of cinnamon and clove spice. On the nose, this is deeply oaky (big surprise), but I don’t find the wood to obscure classic Beam impressions of peanut butter and shells, pralines, cocoa and herbal rye. Thankfully, that’s not really what I found. It’s easy to imagine another three years pushing this bottle into actively unpleasant territory. I was certainly a little concerned about the latter going in to tasting this, because I felt when sampling Knob Creek 15 that the series had arguably pushed things to a point where the value of a higher age statement had already been diminished. Or in other words, is there really something being gained by pushing the age statement and MSRP forward? Or is this just age statement as gimmickry, a justification for another in a long series of limited edition releases? And will the bourbon be notably overoaked, drying or tannic after all that time in the barrel? On the other hand, there’s very little other 18 year old bourbon on the market to compare it to, other than the likes of Heaven Hill’s equally expensive Elijah Craig 18 Year.Īs with the Elijah Craig, though, the real issue here isn’t just one of price-it’s a question of whether the liquid inside that bottle deserved to continue aging for 18 years, or whether at this point the continued exposure to the barrel is doing it more harm than it is benefit. Granted, this is a limited release, and one designed as part of the celebration of the Knob Creek brand’s 30th anniversary, but it sort of breaks the mold of the “high value” that Knob Creek is known for. We’re talking about a bottle twice as old as the 9-year-old flagship, but exponentially more expensive-going from $35 to $170 is quite the quantum leap. Obviously, that kind of price point is going to draw some attention. And now, yet another big jump forward has arrived on the market, with the first release of Knob Creek 18 Year. Then came 2020’s initial release of Knob Creek 15 Year, the oldest in the series at the time, with an MSRP of $100 or beyond. First it was Knob Creek 12 Year, a surprisingly effective transformation of the flagship spirit with a few more years in the oak, and an MSRP around $60-70. In recent years, though, the Knob Creek series has been undergoing a premiumization effort, tied to ascending age statements. Whether you find it at $30, $35 or $40, there’s no denying that represents an excellent value for a mature, 100 proof expression of Beam’s bourbon. Jim Beam’s flagship small batch bourbon series, Knob Creek, allows an almost perfect illustration in and of itself, with its flagship bottle (aged for 9 years) long representing one of the best pure values in the whiskey world. Expect to see similar high end limited releases to this one on a regular basis, and expect collectors to keep snapping them up.When it comes to age statements in American bourbon, it’s pretty easy to illustrate the concept of diminishing returns. In any case, Macallan are certain to keep succeeding in the luxury whisky market as it keeps growing and as their whiskies keep breaking new auction records. The announcement of this whisky follows another announcement from the distillery that they will revamp their entire (more affordable) core range of whiskies, including their 1824 series that was categorized by different ‘colors’ (gold, amber, sienna, and ruby) which was never too popular with whisky geeks. Coveted by whisky connoisseurs and collectors around the world, The Macallan 50 Years Old is an incredible addition to our expanding range of unique, mature whiskies and marks another pinnacle of The Macallan whisky makers’ art.’ Nick Savage, Master Distiller at The Macallan, said: “After being left to mature for half a century, this wonderfully rare single malt is full of rich flavor and beautiful natural color.
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